Pioneer NEX install in ‘12 Limited

[zcruiser]

A somewhat comprehensive install sequence on the Pioneer AVIC-W6500NEX HU in my ‘12 Limited (nav no JBL). I had previously purchased a Kenwood DNX695S from Crutchfield but just couldn’t stomach the user interface so returned it. I really wanted the W8500 with the larger screen but it was significantly more bucks so settled on the W6500. I also installed the iDatalink Maestro ADS-MRR controller, the T01 harness, the TOYUSB adapter, and the Scosche bezel. From the Kenwood install, I still had the Sirius XM (SVC300V1) tuner in place, and I had already run my XM antenna to the rear of the rear of the roof.

Also needed the Metra 40-LX11 Antenna Adapter to hook the factory radio antenna into the Pioneer.

One of the best parts (for me) of the Pioneer NEX units is CarPlay.

The Scosche bezel is “ok”, but you do have to clean up the edges and I went ahead and repainted mine because it comes with a flat silver finish which doesn’t match well with the semi-metallic finish of the factory bezel. You also have to move over a few pieces from the factory bezel which is a bit of a pain.

Matched up the control wires (top) and the speaker wires (bottom). The iDatalink wiring guide is wrong... it tells you the Pioneer pink wire is to be wired to the foot brake wire of the T01 harness, but it’s the speed sensor wire, so it goes to the speed sensor wire on the T01 harness which is also pink. No foot brake wire, only parking brake.

Halfway done. Still using my Radio Shack soldering iron which is 40 years old. Yes, I’m older than that.

Old unit out and stock harness ready. From the previous Kenwood install, I had already converted the Toyota backup camera connector to an RCA plug and a 2-pin power connector, so at least I didn’t have that to deal with too.

Gotta hook up ALL THIS MESS

The T01 harness allows you to hook your climate control in through the iDatalink to the HU but I wanted to keep my factory controls.

I connected a spare long USB cable to the iDatalink and ran it into the glove box in case I wanted to reprogram the Maestro module.

All cabled up, time for a good test power-on.

Powered up just fine, I even connected my iPhone to CarPlay. Nice! The Maestro allows you to use Accessory power while cranking, so the unit doesn’t reboot if you’re listening to something while parked, then crank the engine up when it’s time to leave. The Maestro also lets you customize the steering wheel control buttons, so a long press on MODE gives me navigation, long press on Vol+ gives me vehicle info (TPMS, battery), and long press on the voice control gives me the gauges which are somewhat customizable but less so than the Kenwood (no trans temp).

Back-up camera works! The nice thing about the Pioneer is that it lets you pull up the rear camera at any time, which is great when you’re pulling a trailer which I often do. No hack job needed.

Hooked up my ancient Nano and it works! iPod must be connected to USB port 1, Android devices to USB port 2. So, only 1 USB-connected Apple product can be used. I will use the other port for charging but that kinda sux.

A look at the iPod through USB1. It picks up artwork, and gives progress bar on the song. The Kenwood did not look nearly this good.

Ugh. The part I hate the most... stuffing all this back in. The bad part about the Pioneer harness is that they went from having A/V connections on the back of the unit where you only use what you need, to a breakout dongle with ALL the connectors hanging off of it so you have to stuff ALL of them back there. I only used the backup camera and the aux in, so the other connectors are just added bulk.

Finally got everything in, rolled outside the garage to check the XM... All good!

Navigation is by HERE, which is new to me but it works well and has traffic info as well as a TON of other alerts that you can configure. Side note, wife and I were headed to Bright Penny Brewing in Mebane. Check it out!

Final impression: The Pioneer is FAR better than the Kenwood, and I’m glad I kicked in the extra $200 to upgrade. I paid around $1000 for everything.

Note: I am not using my shark fin for anything. My XM reception had already died on my stock HU (no idea why) and the discrete XM and GPS antennas work so much better. There are adapters to use the stock antennas but I opted not to do that.

Pros:
- HERE navigation is highly configurable, intuitive, and has lifetime traffic info. Better than the Garmin system on the Kenwood.
- Can pull up rear camera at any time, no hack required
- Back-up camera activates even if HU is off (Kenwood wouldn't do this... ANNOYING)
- Extra video input for front camera
- Much better user interface than the Kenwood
- Phone call quality WAY better than Kenwood
- CarPlay
- Free remote

Cons:
- Less configurable OBD-II info... No trans temp (Kenwood displayed trans temp)
- Only 1 rear USB port can be used for Apple devices, and 1 for Android. Can still use other port for charging.
- Playing CD doesn’t bring up artwork, track info (wth?)
- Lost the audio AUX input because it is used by the iDatalink. Not sure why, so maybe it’s still something that can be reclaimed.

 

[MikeyMTBs]

Great post. I’m still working thru the choice of an Alpine, Kenwood or Pioneer head unit replacement.


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[Rapid_Amble]

Nice, clean install.

I was wondering how the Pioneers compared to Kenwoods really, because I pulled the trigger on a 4400NEX in part due to being discounted at the time since new versions were coming out. Install appears mostly the same as your 6500 but I added an amp so had a few other lines and connections to make. Now I’m wondering if HERE navigation and capacitive screen would’ve been worth the extra money LOL.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Looks great, nice and clean!

 

[zcruiser]

Well, I found the trans temp after all... It’s the alternate gauge to the tach in the center. Win!

Also TPMS readings, and the display alternates between PSI and temps.

The other two selections on the left are climate control and parking assist. I kept my factory climate control knobs and I don’t have radar.

 

[Akkording]

Glad you found the trans temp gauge option, after that is a matter of setting the low high gauge levels.
My xm radio cuts off sometimes using the included Pioneer antenna, I was planning on using the adapter for the sharkfin that you mentioned. Nice work on the soldering, I had Crutchfield setup mine.

 

[zcruiser]

Glad you found the trans temp gauge option, after that is a matter of setting the low high gauge levels.

My xm radio cuts off sometimes using the included Pioneer antenna, I was planning on using the adapter for the sharkfin that you mentioned. Nice work on the soldering, I had Crutchfield setup mine.

I had them do mine on the Kenwood, then decided when I swapped that I would just go ahead and use my soldering skilz and a couple free evenings. Needed an excuse to buy more shrink-fit tubing anyway. :rock:

Not sure what’s wrong with my stock XM antenna. I even opened it up to see if anything was corroded inside the fin (it wasn’t), checked both ends of the cable. It worked when I bought it (used) then over time it just lost signal more often. Toyota didn’t have a way to figure out the issue which is another reason for getting rid of the stock HU.

 

[ForRun]

I had them do mine on the Kenwood,

Does the Kenwood allow you to use the factory rear camera reverse guide lines?

 

[zcruiser]

Does the Kenwood allow you to use the factory rear camera reverse guide lines?

I think the HU generates its own guidelines. The Kenwood lines are actually better than the Pioneer because they “bend” as you turn your wheels. But, the Kenwood also has a legal warning near the top of the display something along the lines of “Always check your surroundings“ and it doesn’t turn off.

The Pioneer lines are static, and only come up if you press the guideline icon on the screen. So actually the Pioneer display is less obstructed.

 

[chef744]

Hi ZCruiser!

I just installed the Pioneer 5500 nex on my 5th gen LE. With the TPMS display, do you have to do a relearn on each tire every rotation to get accurate reading on tire position?

 

[CDXLIV444]

That's a pretty sweet setup. Jelly.

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[zcruiser]

Hi ZCruiser!



I just installed the Pioneer 5500 nex on my 5th gen LE. With the TPMS display, do you have to do a relearn on each tire every rotation to get accurate reading on tire position?

So I just noticed today (due to a tire leak) that my TPMS sensors aren’t in the proper position. Not sure if that’s a Pioneer issue or a Toyota issue. All the data comes through the OBD-II connection so I’m assuming it’s a Toyota issue.

Also... my 5th gen Nano just... stopped working. It would read and display the song data, but won’t play. Crutchfield pointed out that the 5th gen isn’t supported (even though it worked in the beginning), so I had to buy a 7th gen off eBay. No software updates on either device.

 

[KP Texan]

So I just noticed today (due to a tire leak) that my TPMS sensors aren’t in the proper position. Not sure if that’s a Pioneer issue or a Toyota issue. All the data comes through the OBD-II connection so I’m assuming it’s a Toyota issue.

I don't think Toyota's system has any way to determine which sensor is on which tire. I know for my Kenwood headunit, I have to put it in a calibration mode where I let air out of specific tires and then it can associate each sensor with a certain tire. If I rotate, I have to do it over again since it's switched around. The Pioneer may be different, but just wanted to share what I've found with mine.

Edit: OK, decided to have a quick look and it's in your Maestro RR manual page 5 - http://images.idatalink.com/corporate/Content/Manuals/RR-TOY/PIO-RR(SR)-TOY01-DS-OG-EN_20160908.pdf

It says: "Set Tire Location Toyota vehicles do not have a pre-assigned designation for the location of each tire on the vehicle. As an example, the tire pressure for the front left tire may display in the right rear position. To correct this, the Maestro module allows you to set the tire location in the vehicle info settings menu. Select the “Set Tire Location” menu option, then follow the onscreen instructions. For this procedure, you will be required to deflate each tire slightly.

Note: The tire pressures rely on proper programming by the technician when tires are changed or rotated. If your tires have been rotated but not reprogrammed, the tire locations on this screen may be incorrect."

 

[chef744]

Did my research and came up with the same solution on the Maestro manual. Go to settings, set tire location, deflate the tire about 3PSI and you’re good to go around 4 wheels!


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[zcruiser]

I don't think Toyota's system has any way to determine which sensor is on which tire. I know for my Kenwood headunit, I have to put it in a calibration mode where I let air out of specific tires and then it can associate each sensor with a certain tire. If I rotate, I have to do it over again since it's switched around. The Pioneer may be different, but just wanted to share what I've found with mine.

Edit: OK, decided to have a quick look and it's in your Maestro RR manual page 5 - http://images.idatalink.com/corporate/Content/Manuals/RR-TOY/PIO-RR(SR)-TOY01-DS-OG-EN_20160908.pdf

It says: "Set Tire Location Toyota vehicles do not have a pre-assigned designation for the location of each tire on the vehicle. As an example, the tire pressure for the front left tire may display in the right rear position. To correct this, the Maestro module allows you to set the tire location in the vehicle info settings menu. Select the “Set Tire Location” menu option, then follow the onscreen instructions. For this procedure, you will be required to deflate each tire slightly.

Note: The tire pressures rely on proper programming by the technician when tires are changed or rotated. If your tires have been rotated but not reprogrammed, the tire locations on this screen may be incorrect."

That's awesome information! For some reason, I do not have the iDataLink manual you provided.

Fortunately, I also threaded a USB cable from the Maestro into the glove box so I wouldn't have to remove the center console to reprogram the module. I'll take a look at this (if I ever have time).

 

[zcruiser]

By request of [MENTION=96475]zonzin[/MENTION], I updated the T01 harness diagram to include the wire colors on the Pioneer unit and the factory rear camera wire colors.

Illumination: Orange to Orange/white
Reverse: Purple/white to Purple/white
E-brake: Lt green to Green
Speed: Pink to pink
Foot brake: No connection

As for the aux audio: The iDataLink diagram shows a connection from the Maestro to the Pioneer HU. I asked Crutchfield why I needed the analog audio connection from the Maestro to the Pioneer, consuming my aux audio input. Their response:

The audio cable that connects to the MRR module & into the back of the radio retains vehicle sources. For example, in some vehicles it will retain the factory satellite radio source depending on if the factory XM tuner was built into the factory radio or is located elsewhere in the vehicle. So it's not completely necessary if we aren't retaining any vehicle features like that.

If the factory AUX connection is more important or necessary than the vehicle features, I would connect the AUX 3.5mm into that AV-In instead of the MRR audio cable.

I haven’t gone back in to reconnect my center console aux audio back into the HU, but will be doing that soon.

 

[zonzin]

Thanks for the info zcruiser! I have my 8500NEX installed now and all works well. It wasn't too bad getting the harnesses matched up. I used the factory HU bracket to mount it all and that worked out great. As someone else pointed out I drill a third hole in the bracket to match up with the Pioneer so I could use 3 screws to attach. Also had to grind off the lower "nub" on the brackets to fit flush on the HU.
About the only thing that annoys me is the stupid nanny message that shows on the front camera about reverse image. It would be ok if it went away after a few seconds but no, it is permanent when using the camera. I have been searching for a hack to get rid of it but so far nothing. Amazing a little info there is out there on Pioneer HU hacks, not even a good forum to search.

EDIT: A setting for the FF camera switching it to Video gets rid of the annoying message. Also, with the 8500, using wireless Android Auto on a phone other than a Pixel or other approved phone, you have to set your phone (mine is an Essential PH1) to developer mode and install the latest beta of Google Play Services and then the phone will connect wirelessly. Instructions here.


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[zcruiser]

That 8500 looks awesome!

I did a side-by-side on the 6500 and just couldn’t quite justify the step up, but I really wanted one. Enjoy!

 

[Gclark949]

Parking Break Wire?

This post may be too old for the OP to see, but does anyhow have experience with these Pioneer head units and the required parking break wire for entering certain address searches of other features such as screen mirroring? I am wondering if it is an easy thing to bypass. I think it would be cool to be able to screen mirror when using Gaia navigation on 4WD trails and then you wouldnt really need an iPad to see where you are going. The little telephone screen is too small really, and an iPad works great but screen mirror would be nice.

 

[zcruiser]

This post may be too old for the OP to see, but does anyhow have experience with these Pioneer head units and the required parking break wire for entering certain address searches of other features such as screen mirroring? I am wondering if it is an easy thing to bypass. I think it would be cool to be able to screen mirror when using Gaia navigation on 4WD trails and then you wouldnt really need an iPad to see where you are going. The little telephone screen is too small really, and an iPad works great but screen mirror would be nice.

I’m the OP and I am old.

Just don’t hook up the signal, or fool the system into thinking you have the parking brake on.


Boom.


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